Center Grant

Neighborhoods, Alcohol Outlets and Intimate Partner Violence
Principal Investigator: Carol Cunradi, Ph.D.

The overall goal of this study is to gain a deeper understanding of how environmental factors, such as alcohol outlet density and neighborhood conditions such as poverty, interact with individual- and couple-level characteristics to increase risk for intimate partner violence.

Intimate partner violence, that is, acts of aggression between adult married or cohabiting couples is a significant public health problem.  These acts of aggression include psychological aggression as well as physical aggression, including sexual coercion.  National surveys indicate that partner-to-partner violence occurs in from 8% to 22% of couples.  It is most likely to occur among younger couples, members of racial and ethnic minorities and households with low socioeconomic status.   Violence between parents is likely to have negative consequences for children who witness such aggression.

Alcohol is related to intimate partner violence directly in that heavy drinking increases the risk of aggression between partners.  Studies also indicate that the immediate effects of alcohol consumption lead to violent behavior between partners.  Drinking alone is not enough to cause violence, but can make it more likely for some couples.
 
Most research on family violence, including intimate partner violence, focuses on the behavior of individuals.  Partner violence is typically a ‘private’ event that takes place behind closed doors. An increasing body of research indicates that the characteristics of the neighborhoods in which families live can have an effect on family violence.  For example, couples who live in impoverished neighborhoods are more likely to engage in violent behavior towards each other.  It is also beginning to emerge that more alcohol outlets close together can be associated with family violence, including violence between couples. 

More alcohol outlets can contribute to more drinking, which itself is a risk factor for violence.  In addition, neighborhoods with many liquor stores, bottles littering the street, intoxicated people in public, etc. may lead residents to be less concerned about social consequences of engaging in violence andless likely to intervene if they witness violence.  Living in a neighborhood characterized by abandoned buildings, graffiti, crime, and other signs of decay may be stressful.  Liquor stores in these neighborhoods  may be a magnet for additional social problems, including heavier drinking and/or more aggressive behavior. 

This study uses telephone surveys in the 50 California communities to obtain information from couples about their neighborhoods, alcohol consumption and methods for dealing with domestic problems to explore the relationship between neighborhood characteristics – especially with regard to alcohol availability – and violence between partners.  In particular, the survey captures information that illuminates the following hypotheses:

• Couples residing in the most socially disadvantaged neighborhoods, those with the greatest density of bars and off-premise alcohol outlets, will have the highest rates of heavy drinking and of self-reported violence between partners .
• Couples residing in the most socially disadvantaged neighborhoods will report the lowest levels of collective efficacy (a group's confident expectation that it will successfully achieve its intended goals); alcohol outlet density will exacerbate this relationship. These couples will also perceive that intervening in family problems will not be accepted behavior among neighbors.  These couples will have higher rates of violence between partners, especially when there is a high density of alcohol outlets. 
• In neighborhoods with high levels of social disadvantage (including high alcohol outlet density, off-premise venues and bars), there will be higher levels of psychological distress among couples. Given a certain level of psychological distress, heavy drinking will result in higher rates of violence between partners compared to lower levels of drinking.
• Couples in neighborhoods with greater outlet density are likely to use these alcohol outlets more frequently.  This use of alcohol outlets will be associated with more violence between partners.

The study findings can be used to help change neighborhood conditions in ways that can create and sustain safer environments for families, such as changes in zoning, community action and education, and policing.

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